Veterans Benefits

All Harvard applicants and current students are encouraged to apply for other forms of financial aid based on the policies of the school you will be attending. Receipt of Ch33 funding doesn’t impact a student’s eligibility for any other type of financial aid.

If you have specific questions about a program, most of that information can be found on the school or department’s website, with links to contacts. If you have questions about alternate financial aid options, prospective students can contact the school’s Financial Aid Office. If you have questions about your certification or late/missing payments, please contact the Certifying Official for your program:

Students attending Harvard’s Executive Education Program are eligible to receive the same benefits as a student attending the College, Extension, or graduate schools. They are also eligible for YRP funding if the meet the VA’s requirements and the school has YRP slots remaining (though only a handful of EE programs exceed the basic coverage offered by ch33 for 100% eligible students.) For information on how to sign up and the availability of YRP funding, please contact the Executive Education Program offices directly.

The VA reports a typical turn-around time of 30 days between certification and payment. In our experience, that time-line can vary. Some tuition payments are received in less than a week, some take several months. It can depend on the time of year and whether the certification was pulled for manual processing (which may happen if there’s a question about the cert or if a revision is submitted.)

It is our understanding that BAH payments begin roughly 30 days from the cert date, but not before the start of term. BAH payments, if sent after the start of term, should be retroactive to...

Students at the College and graduate schools will receive an email from the certifiers within the Student Accounts Office once they have been certified for enrollment through the VA’s website. The email will list the terms certified, the dates of enrollment, and the expected payments from the VA for tuition and fees (for Ch33 students).

The children of Active Duty service members (who are using the parent/guardian’s ch33 benefit) have the same eligibility as a non-AD service member – if you are deemed 100% eligible for ch33, you are also eligible for YRP. You would also be eligible for BAH payments, assuming you meet the general enrollment requirements for BAH (more than half-time).

Active Duty service members and their spouses can use Ch33 benefits for their tuition and fees, but they aren’t eligible for Yellow Ribbon Program funding, nor will they receive the Ch33 Basic Allowance for Housing (because, in most cases, the military is already providing housing or an allowance).

The amount of your BAH (also referred to by the VA as the “MHA” for ch33 participants) is based on the military’s BAH for “an E-5 with dependents.” The rate is determined using the Cambridge zip code, 02138, which you can plug into the DoD’s online BAH calculator to see the current year’s rate.

Your BAH payment is pro-rated to match your % eligibility for ch33 funding. Students attending half-time or less or students using the benefit while on Active Duty (or spouses using the transferred benefit while their spouse is on Active Duty) are not eligible to receive BAH payments....

No, Chapter 31 funding is handled differently. Certification of enrollment is submitted separately to the VA (in paper form vs. the online forms for the other Chapters) and third party invoices are required for payment of tuition and fees. The VA will notify Harvard directly if the student is eligible for Chapter 31 funding, but students should also self-report that coverage to their Financial Aid Office and submit a sponsor billing request form to initiate billing. For more information click here.

Eligible students should submit their benefits application through the VA’s website (Form 22-1990.) The VA will produce a Certificate of Eligibility. Submit your Certificate of Eligibility along with a Notice of Student Enrollment form to your school’s Financial Aid Office (see Contacts) to request certification. A new Notice of Student Enrollment form is required for every subsequent academic year, but as long as there is no change to your eligibility, you do not need to resubmit the VA’s Certificate of Eligibility.